3 employment rights changes engineers need to know about

Gill McAteer, Director of Employment Law at Citation, discusses the top three employment rights changes engineers need to know about.

The Employment Rights Bill is expected to become law next year, with implementation dates to be confirmed by subsequent regulations. It is important for engineering firms to prepare.

Unfair dismissal claims

The removal of the two-year service requirement for unfair dismissal is one of the most monumental changes to employment law seen in the Bill, but it doesn’t have to be a negative. It is an opportunity to review recruitment, onboarding and performance-management processes for new hires, as well as an incentive for businesses to address and resolve any concerns early on.

A statutory probation period will be established so businesses can continue to confidently hire new employees with a set amount of time to ensure they’re a good fit. The length of probation has yet to be confirmed, but the government has stated that its preference is a maximum period of nine months. If employees are dismissed within this period, the employer will still need to show they have a fair reason, but the procedural requirements surrounding dismissal will not be as onerous.

Statutory sick pay

Currently, to receive statutory sick pay (SSP) workers must earn at least the lower earnings limit of £123 per week. Workers are also only paid SSP from their fourth day of absence. This means that lower-earning employees and those who are absent from work for less than four days don’t receive any SSP, encouraging those who are unwell to still attend work. This has a number of negative implications for businesses – including reduced productivity and the spread of illness throughout the workplace – and can result in longer-term effects on employee wellbeing.

The Bill will remove both requirements, meaning that up to 1.3 million low-paid employees will now be eligible for SSP from the first day of their sickness absence. However, it will increase employer costs. The government estimates that removing the three-day waiting period alone will cost employers £1.02bn, and many fear the change will lead to increased levels of short-term sickness absence.

To prepare, employers should review their absence management policies. For example, a policy that includes return-to-work interviews following sickness absence helps managers get a better understanding of the reasons for sickness absences and identify any additional support they may need to put in place. Managers should be trained on how to conduct these meetings. It is also important to have a consistent approach as often these initiatives fall down because of this.

Zero hours

As engineers are often involved in a lot of project work, it is not uncommon for workers to have zero-hours contracts where employers are not required to provide a set number of working hours. For employers, this has been a cost-effective way to manage labour in response to fluctuating project demands and gives workers flexibility.

The Bill proposes to give workers on zero-hours contracts and contracts below a set numbers of hours (which is yet to be quantified) the right to be offered a guaranteed hours contract when they have worked a certain number of hours over a certain period of time.

The Bill will also introduce new rights to be given reasonable notice of a shift and also reasonable notice of cancellation or curtailment of a shift, with a right to compensation when the latter is breached. Engineering firms should review how their workforce models may need to be adapted.

By facing these changes head-on, firms can strengthen policies and, ultimately, improve productivity and operations.

For more information visit citation.co.uk

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